Delia's Reminiscence
by 32-bit Mandarin Orange
Summary: FINISHED!!!!!!! *big excitement all around* Who is Ash Ketchum? The son if Delia and...who? Delia struggles to keep her past a secret, but soon she is forced to journey 16 years into the past and tell her son painful memories.
1. Default Chapter

Do I haffta do a disclaimer? Okay, blah blah, I don't own any of this, what the other stories say. Okay all done. ^^ now on with the story!  
  
  
  
Ash, Misty and Brock were home for one of their rare visits. As Delia set out  
  
lunch on the table, Brock said, "Gee, You cook way better than me, or my dad put  
  
together, Mrs. Ketchum."  
  
Delia blushed, still not used to that kind of flattery. "Why thank you Brock. But  
  
I'm sure you cook wonderfully."  
  
Misty poked Ash. "You never compliment her, do you Ash? You ungrateful little  
  
knave!"  
  
"I do too! Like you would ever know. You think you know everything, don't you  
  
Misty?"  
  
"That's because I do!"  
  
"Do not!"  
  
Delia recovered her wits enough to realize a fight was budding next to her. "Ash!  
  
We have company! Behave yourself!"  
  
He could practically feel her smirk boring into his back. When he knew his  
  
mother wasn't looking, he stuck his tongue out at Misty.  
  
"So, Brock, tell me about your dad. What does he do for a living? Is he a chef?"  
  
"Well, actually, he cooked really well before..well before my mom died. Then  
  
he found the responsibilities too much to handle, so he ran off. But I basically learned  
  
everything I knew from him."  
  
There was silence at the table as Delia drifted into thought. Brock's story was so  
  
familiar to the one she told Ash.what if he brought up Mr. Ketchum yet again?  
  
"Mom, Dad was a good cook too, right?" Came her son's voice predictably.  
  
"Ash! I just remembered something!" She exclaimed, desperately, "Go upstairs,  
  
and could you please dial Professor Oak's house really quick? Ask him if he wants to  
  
come to lunch."  
  
"Oh..okay," He said, sounding disappointed that his question was left  
  
unanswered again.  
  
His mom's room had always been a sanctuary. For some reason he was never  
  
allowed in there, and he wondered why now she was sending him up here so urgently, in  
  
the middle of their discussion.  
  
As he entered the light room, he glanced around. There was the phone, right next  
  
to a picture frame. Ash dialed the familiar number and let his eyes wander as the phone  
  
rang. They landed on the picture frame. It was one of those double ones, rimmed in  
  
silver.  
  
Inside were two pictures of him. One of them was him holding his Orange Island  
  
Trophy and beaming proudly. The other looked a little older. The colors were  
  
faded and he was wearing a dorky looking polo shirt that he never remembered owning.  
  
Suddenly he realized the Professor wasn't home. Silently he replaced the receiver  
  
and bended over to inspect the picture more closely. It had indulged his curiosity,  
  
especially once it occurred to him that the boy in the picture wasn't him, only someone  
  
bearing a striking resemblance to him.  
  
Ash picked up the frame and turned it over, heart pounding. Why did he feel like  
  
he was invading his mom's privacy? He was just looking at a picture. Nothing wrong  
  
with that.  
  
After having uncovered the backs of the pictures, he saw that there was indeed  
  
writing on the back. Squinting, Ash held it closer.  
  
"Samuel and Ash. Age 11." Samuel? Who was that? Was his father's  
  
name.Samuel?  
  
"Ash!" Called his mother from downstairs, "What's taking so long? Is he home?"  
  
Quickly Ash stuffed the backs onto the frames and galloped downstairs. "No, he  
  
wasn't there," He said, surprised that his voice sounded so normal, when inside he was  
  
shaking.  
  
This is only the introductory chapter and I'm planning on starting the actual story of Delia next chapter.tell me what ya think! Like it? Hate it? If I get enough positive responses, I'll continue! Thanks, all!!  
  
x~ Aurora chan 


	2. Chapter Two

Ash woke up late the next day. After he dressed, he found it hard to concentrate  
  
on anything besides the strange picture in his mother's room. After affirming that his  
  
mother was downstairs and busy, he crept into the room and stole the picture from her  
  
dresser.  
  
Once he was back in his room, he sprawled onto his bed and stared at it.  
  
"Pika-pi pi?" Asked his little electric friend, scurrying up to his side.  
  
"It's a picture.of me. And someone else, who I think is related to me. But who is  
  
he?"  
  
Pikachu shrugged, a habit which he had picked up from his human friend.  
  
As he lay there, his mind began to take on all sorts of strange fantasies. What if he  
  
had a long lost twin brother? Or what if it was his grandfather, the sailor, who had passed  
  
away in a shipwreck? Or what if it was.his father? A Mr. Ketchum, who had married a woman named Delia and disappeared into the world two years later.  
  
"Ash? Are you in there?"  
  
He quickly stuffed the picture underneath him, but not before Misty entered the  
  
room.  
  
She squinted at him. "What was that you were staring at before I came in, Ash?"  
  
"Ha-ha, nothing at all, Misty. I was looking at the ceiling."  
  
She didn't believe one word out of his little lying mouth. He had always been a  
  
terrible liar. "Is it...a picture of me?" She teased, slinking over to the side of his bed.  
  
"NO! It's not a picture of you!" He shrieked, though there was no denying the  
  
blush that covered his face. "If I need to show you to convince you otherwise, look!"  
  
He shoved the picture in her face and waited for a reaction.  
  
"Wow, you're more conceited than I thought, staring at a picture of yourself."  
  
"No, Misty. It's a picture of me and someone who looks a lot like me. And it bugs  
  
me, I want to know who he is!" He slowly turned over the frame and let her look  
  
at the inscription on the back.  
  
Misty recognized the serious tone in his voice. "You think it's your father?" She  
  
asked softly.  
  
"I dunno," replied Ash. "It could be. But I know it's not me."  
  
For a few moments there was silence in the small room as Misty considered this.  
  
Suddenly she snapped her fingers. "I got it! We could look in your mom's old yearbooks  
  
and search for a Samuel Ketchum! He's sure to be in there! I mean, your mom lived in  
  
Pallet Town her whole life, right? And didn't she say that she married a man from here,  
  
too?"  
  
"Right.." he said, his mind journeying to the attic and uncovering the old  
  
boxes with his mother's yearbooks. Ash suddenly got a burst of energy that he didn't  
  
know he had. "C'mon, let's go upstairs! Let's go, Pikachu!"  
  
The three of them scampered up to the attic and Ash slowly creaked open the  
  
door. Dust wafted through the poorly lighted room.  
  
"Ew," said Misty as she rubbed her nose. "We'd better be quick. I bet there are  
  
lots of bugs in here."  
  
Ash ignored her and strode over to the box with the yearbooks in it. "Misty." He  
  
whispered, gesturing for her to join him. She crept over and they huddled over an old  
  
yearbook.  
  
Ash flipped the pages to the "k" section and they scanned the rows of smiling  
  
students.  
  
"Misty! Look! It's Professor Oak!"  
  
They both stared at the picture of the young man in disbelief.  
  
"That's not him," said Misty.  
  
Ash pointed at the caption on the side while Misty giggled.  
  
"Man, he was hot. If I'd been going to school with him as my teacher, I would  
  
pay really good attention!" Ash just rolled his eyes. She obviously wasn't as serious  
  
about this as he was.  
  
"Look at this one," snickered Misty. "He looks like such a geek."  
  
Ash glanced at the faded photograph without a smile, for he had just realized  
  
something. "Misty."  
  
"Yes?" she asked, still studying the book. "Hey, some of these guys are pretty  
  
cute!"  
  
"Misty, there is no Samuel Ketchum. Look, he would be right here."  
  
He pointed at a picture of sweetly smiling girl. She had reddish-brown hair and  
  
warm brown eyes. Something about this girl looked strangely familiar to Misty.  
  
"Ash!" she exclaimed, her trembling finger moving over to the name on the side.  
  
"Look. It says," she gulped, "It says, 'Delia Ketchum.'"  
  
Delia Ketchum. Delia Ketchum.the two words echoed in Ash's mind again and  
  
again. His blood ran cold. Samuel Ketchum didn't exist, then. His mom had lied about  
  
marrying a man named Mr. Ketchum.  
  
"She lied," murmured Ash. "Mom. You lied to me. Who is my father?"  
  
Misty felt her heart twisting at seeing Ash in such emotional agony. "Ash- ," she  
  
started to say, but suddenly they heard footsteps pounding up the attic stairs.  
  
Their eyes met, both of them reflecting the same fear. Suddenly, the door burst  
  
open and there stood an infuriated Mrs. Ketchum.  
  
"ASH! What are you doing up here? I looked EVERYWHERE for you! Why in  
  
the world are you here? And why is Misty here! What are you two doing?"  
  
The two young teens remained silent.  
  
"Well? I'm waiting for an explaination!" Ash gulped, than closed his eyes briefly.  
  
Then, slowly, shakily, he held up the double picture frame without saying a word. Here it  
  
was. The moment of truth.  
  
Delia's eyes widened in shock, then traveled to the stack of yearbooks behind  
  
them. "But how..?"she whispered. Ash was stunned at her sudden pallor. He thought  
  
she might faint, and he and Misty ran to her side.  
  
"Mom?" He asked unsteadily, "what's wrong?"  
  
Instead of answering, she stumbled out the door and muttered, "I need to call him."  
  
Ash and Misty drifted downstairs to join Brock at the table. As they passed  
  
Delia's room, they heard her speaking in hushed tones into the receiver.  
  
"What's wrong?" Asked Brock of the two stone-faced Pokemon trainers. Quickly  
  
Ash filled him in on the morning's events.  
  
"I don't even know what we did wrong," he concluded. "But it's like she has  
  
some deep dark secret or something."  
  
In less than five minutes the doorbell rang and Ash ran to answer it. He was  
  
surprised to see Professor Oak standing at the doorstep.  
  
"Hello Professor," greeted Ash, showing this common visitor into the kitchen  
  
where Misty and Brock were sitting silently.  
  
Without a word, the professor took a seat at the table and the four of them waited  
  
in silence. Soon Delia emerged and sat next to Professor Oak.  
  
The unspoken question hung in the silence. It felt as thick as peanut butter on the  
  
small room. "Ash," said Delia in a serious voice that Ash had never heard her using.  
  
"You could let Misty and Brock stay, or they could go into another room for  
  
awhile. What do you want?"  
  
"I think," Ash said finally, "I want them to stay with me." He glanced up and saw  
  
Misty smiling encouragingly.  
  
The picture was propped in the middle of the table, and Ash glanced at it  
  
pointedly.  
  
Delia gulped. She'd pictured this scene a million times over in her head, but now  
  
it was actually happening. She had to tell him now. "You found the pictures." she  
  
started. "One of them is you. The other.the other is your father."  
  
"But who is my father?" Ash burst out, "Where is Mr. Ketchum? We looked in  
  
the yearbook, but we didn't find him, yet you told us you married some guy from Pallet  
  
Town. He doesn't exist, does he? So who is he?"  
  
Slowly, so excruciatingly slowly, Ash saw Professor Oak nod across the table at her.  
  
"Ash.your father is Samuel Oak of Pallet Town. Your father is Professor Oak."  
  
MWA-HA-HA-HA! I'm sooo evil ^_- Okay, so I lied. Delia doesn't start telling her story till the third chapter. But this time it's a promise! I'll have the third chapter to you guys asap! Please review this chapter! 


	3. Chapter Three

Ash just gaped at her as cold shock enveloped him. "But how.wha?" Then he  
  
laughed. "Ha-ha, funny joke. Very funny. Now tell me mom, who is he?"  
  
Her serious mask didn't lift. "I already told you, Ash." He couldn't stop staring at  
  
the professor as memories flooded into his head. Professor Oak, giving him Pikachu.  
  
Professor Oak, coming to see him at the Pokemon league. Professor Oak, who was his  
  
father the entire time.  
  
Misty and Brock's expressions mirrored his own. It was Professor Oak who  
  
finally spoke, breaking Ash out of his stupor. "Ash, I know this is going to be hard for  
  
you to accept, but it's the truth..son."  
  
"Ash, dear..I know you'll have lots of questions. I think it would just be easier  
  
if I told you the entire story from the beginning...." All four pairs of eyes were fixated  
  
on her. "I was seventeen years old, and I was beginning my senior year of high  
  
school.."  
  
*flashback to16 years ago...*  
  
"Ugh," groaned Delia, struggling with her books at her locker. "Why did he have to give  
  
us so much homework on the first week of school?" She grumbled to herself as she  
  
stuffed a few of them into her knapsack.  
  
"Hi, Delia!" chirped a voice across the hall. Delia turned around and saw one of  
  
her close friends, Ki, hurrying over to her. Kinanko was her real name, but no one called  
  
her that.  
  
"Hi, Ki!" she exclaimed. Delia zipped up her bag and met her halfway across the  
  
hall.  
  
"Gee, it's a real bummer that he gave us so much homework," Ki said, gesturing  
  
to her bulging backpack. "But that Professor Oak is so cute that I wouldn't mind how  
  
much he gave us!" She giggled and pointed across the hallway.  
  
Delia followed her finger and saw him crossing the hallway, a serious expression  
  
on his face.  
  
"He's probably on some other planet," remarked Delia, smiling, and the two of  
  
them gazed at him in love struck admiration.  
  
Every female senior in the entire school enamored with the new Pokemon biology  
  
professor. He was smart, he was nice, and most importantly, he was cute. They didn't  
  
care that he was almost twice as old as them, because he sure didn't look it.  
  
They both sighed in synchronization. "I wonder if he's married?" Asked Ki. By  
  
this time, he had disappeared into the teacher's lounge.  
  
"I would marry him in a second!" Squeaked Delia, giggling her perpetual giggle.  
  
"Me too!" exclaimed Ki.  
  
Suddenly Delia caught a glance of the clock. "Oh, dear! Ki, my mother is going to  
  
kill me! We're late getting home!" They tore out of the building and rushed to Delia's  
  
house. She didn't even turn around to say goodbye to her friend, just yelled it over her  
  
shoulder.  
  
Delia tried to close the door softly in hopes that her mother wouldn't notice, but  
  
no such luck. There she was, waiting in the parlor, arms folded angrily.  
  
"Delia!!! You're 15 minutes late getting back! Where were you?"  
  
"I was walking home from school, Mother! I didn't go anywhere in between,  
  
honest!"  
  
Her mother was already shaking her head. "You know the rule, and you  
  
deliberately broke it! Do I need to drive you home from school every day like I did last  
  
year?"  
  
Delia's face still burned with shame as she remembered herself, a junior in high  
  
school, getting picked up day after day by her mommy. Then the anger flooded in, as  
  
well as she had gotten at shoving it away.  
  
"Mother! In a year I'll be in college! Are you going to come live with me in  
  
campus or what? I'm seventeen years old!"  
  
"Exactly. You're going to go running off with some boy at this age. Boys are a  
  
bad influence on you, Delia."  
  
"Maybe it was just my father that was a bad influence! One bad one and you  
  
won't let me grow up! The next thing I know you'll be at school changing my diaper for  
  
me!!"  
  
She knew she'd gone too far then. Her mother shot her a stony stare before  
  
stalking of the kitchen. At least she didn't send me to my room, thought Delia. Like last  
  
time.  
  
The previous scene was not uncommon in the Ketchum household. Nearly ever  
  
day, she and her mother fought over something, but it was mostly over curfews.  
  
She wasn't allowed to be late coming home from school. She wasn't allowed to  
  
be home alone. And going out with her friends? Forget it. They had to come here.  
  
The frustration bubbled up within her again. For at least one more year, she was  
  
trapped in this prison. Then, finally, she could be free.  
  
  
  
School was wonderful. It gave her an excuse to get away from her mother's  
  
watchful glare. Pokemon Biology was even more wonderful. It gave her forty minutes to  
  
stare at Professor Oak's face.  
  
He wondered why his class was so quiet. He'd always heard that seniors,  
  
especially the girls, were chatterboxes. But here they were, staring at him as if his lesson  
  
were the most fascinating thing in the world.  
  
"After the Nidoran meet a mate, they usually evolve....and shlea gooo ba blha  
  
nie? Delia?"  
  
Suddenly she was aware of the entire class staring at her. Even the girls tore  
  
themselves away from his face for a second. She felt her face turning red, and giggled  
  
nervously. "What was the question again, Professor? I, um, didn't hear it!"  
  
He just shook his head ruefully. "Come on, class, pay attention. Even my son does  
  
better in school than you people. And he's two years younger than you!" He strode down  
  
the isles of desks, sternly glancing at each student. "You know, the semester is almost  
  
over. Since most of you are failing, see me after class. Those of you who actually have  
  
decent grades, may leave."  
  
When the bell rang, the boys in the class rushed out and the professor was faced  
  
with a gaggle of giggling girls. "Girls. I don't know what it is about you. But for some  
  
reason, you are all failing. You'd better pull yourselves together. Do you realize that  
  
senior year is the most important year of your school lives? You're going to college next  
  
year...." The all brainlessly nodded their heads and reluctantly left after he was done  
  
lecturing.  
  
"Delia." She turned around and saw him gesturing for her to come over. The other  
  
girls shot her envious glances.  
  
"Ye..yes, professor?" She approached him, heart pounding.  
  
"If you want to go to college, you'd better start paying attention. Do you know  
  
you're getting a 33% in this class?" She flinched.  
  
"I'm sorry! I'll do better next time, I promise! Really!" She didn't want him  
  
thinking she was dumb.  
  
Then a wonderful thing happened. His serious face switched to a smiling one.  
  
"All right, Delia. I believe you. Run along now, or you'll be late."  
  
"Bye Professor!" she yelled and ran out into the hallway. She nearly bumped into  
  
Ki, who was obviously spying on her.  
  
"Well?" She hissed, "What did he say?" Delia stared at her for a second, then  
  
laughed.  
  
"Nothing much, nothing important." Then she walked smartly away and left Ki  
  
staring jealously after her. Little did she know that at the end of that day she would have  
  
an even bigger surprise waiting for her..  
  
Well there was chapter three! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review chapter three too!  
  
X~Aurora chan 


	4. Chapter Four

This time she got home in time. When Delia entered the kitchen she was startled  
  
to see her mother bustling around the kitchen, frantically opening and closing the  
  
refrigerator.  
  
"Mother? What are you doing?" inquired Delia as she dropped her backpack on  
  
the floor.  
  
"Pick that up!" she barked immediately. Delia obeyed.  
  
"Now, Delia, we need to get this house straightened out. We're going to have  
  
company soon."  
  
"Company?" Delia repeated stupidly. They never had company. Maybe it was  
  
because Delia was afraid to invite anyone over. It had never occurred to her that her  
  
mother didn't ever talk about any friends.  
  
"Who's coming?" she asked.  
  
Her mother turned away from scrubbing the table for a second to respond, "An  
  
old friend of mine that I re-met at the gardening club today. I love it so far. And the best  
  
part, there are no men. Unfortunately, she's married now, so her husband is coming with  
  
her."  
  
Delia bit back a retort over the crack about men. Sure, her father had been an  
  
idiot. But there was no proof that the rest of them were like that. Not that I'll ever find  
  
out, she thought. Not as long as I'm here.  
  
"Delia, I want you to start making dinner. Use one of the recipes you learned in  
  
cooking class."  
  
"Okay, Mother," she said cheerfully. Cooking was great fun, even though she felt  
  
as if she were doing it like a servant to her mother.  
  
She decided to make chicken and dumplings, her favorite recipe. Luckily, her  
  
mother left her alone after that so she was free to hum to herself in the kitchen without  
  
listening to her scolding.  
  
Around 5:00, the doorbell rang. "There she is!" cried Mrs. Ketchum, rushing past  
  
her to answer the door. From her post in the kitchen, Delia heard excited voices in the  
  
parlor. One of them was a woman's.....and the other was presumably her husband,  
  
sounding strangely familiar...  
  
"Delia!" called her mother from the dining room, "come in and meet our guests!"  
  
She entered the door leading into the dining room and gasped. Her knees went  
  
weak, and a second later the steaming pot of chicken and dumplings she held went  
  
crashing to the floor, its contents spilling all over the carpet.  
  
Her face burned bright red as she stood there with the mess stewing all over her  
  
feet. "Professor....?" She whispered, her cheeks flaming. Delia wanted to run, get out of  
  
that room, with her mother glaring at her in a appalled way, and Mrs. Oak's pitying gaze.  
  
So she did.  
  
"Delia!" screamed Mrs. Ketchum as she fled from the dining room, "get back  
  
here right now! Clean this up!"  
  
She didn't answer. Her mother would yell at her and Professor Oak. what did he  
  
see her as? A clumsy girl who couldn't even hold onto her own homemade meal, that's  
  
what she was. And besides, he was already married.  
  
She slowed down when she reached the basement. Her mother would never think  
  
to look for her here, and by this time she probably wouldn't try. She collapsed onto a pile  
  
of salt bags and began to cry. She could never live this down, not ever, not in a million  
  
years....  
  
"-Difficult girl. I don't know why she does things like this," came her mother's  
  
voice distinctly through the furnace pipes. "She could be so much better.."  
  
"Don't be too hard on her," responded the professor's voice. "she's a pretty good  
  
girl in class. A little dreamy, but it seems like all of them are like that."  
  
She held her breath, waiting for him to inform her mother of the thirty three  
  
percent. But he said no more about school.  
  
Her heart swelled with sudden pride in Professor Oak. What a nice guy, she  
  
thought. He was an adult, but he defended her nonetheless. And against her mother, the  
  
tyrant. Delia could feel herself flushing again, and her heart fluttered madly. There was  
  
No Way On Earth she was going back up there, because if she did her heart would surely  
  
go on overload....  
  
After awhile she heard voices echoing down the stairs. Quickly she sat up and  
  
tried to remember how long she'd been sitting there. Looking around, she saw her mother  
  
looming over her like some sort of medieval dragon.  
  
"Delia. Get upstairs. Right now."  
  
She figured there was no point in arguing, even though she wondered what her  
  
mother could do to her. Ground her? As if she already wasn't grounded permanently.  
  
When she ushered her up to face Professor Oak and his wife, she hissed,  
  
"apologize to our guests, Delia!" Delia was blushing madly, but she managed to squeak  
  
out a quick, "I'm sorry. Professor, I'm sorry for ruining your and your wife's meal. I'll be  
  
careful next time, I really will!" she couldn't look either one of them in the eye.  
  
Mrs. Oak wife laughed. "Delia, dear, it wasn't your fault. It is rather shocking to  
  
see your school teacher in your house, is it not?"  
  
She decided instantly that she liked Mrs. Oak, even though she was the  
  
professor's wife. Delia giggled nervously. "Yeah, yeah, that was it! Hahahahaha." She  
  
glanced up and saw the professor looking at her, and quickly averted her eyes towards her  
  
shoes again.  
  
Her mother's face had softened a little by this time. "So, then, what should we eat  
  
for dinner?" she asked as she took a seat at the table.  
  
They began to discuss dinner plans, and Delia found herself staring at him, again  
  
and again and again. He's married. He has a wife . He's older than you. You're just one  
  
of his students..  
  
But her heart refused to listen to her. I don't care what you say, it told her. I'll do  
  
what I want.  
  
Her mother and Mrs. Oak began a discussion over flowers and the correct sunlight  
  
for them, and Delia felt her eyes drooping with the dullness of it. She glanced over at  
  
Professor Oak and saw him looking bored rigid. "I'm going to do my homework,  
  
everyone." She got up and left the table, but soon she was aware that Professor Oak was  
  
following her into the living room.  
  
"I told your mother that I was going to help you with your homework," he said as  
  
she took a seat on the sofa. "But I really just wanted to get the heck out of there. They  
  
were boring me to tears."  
  
"I know! I like flowers, but not that much!" Delia felt her heart fluttering happily.  
  
It was just her and Professor Oak here. Ki would be so jealous when she heard about it  
  
tomorrow.  
  
"Well, I'll do the homework you gave me! Hahahaha! That way you can help me  
  
with it!"  
  
The professor said, "Well, I would assume so."  
  
She got out her textbook and stared at the pictures as if they were alien drawings.  
  
"You have to tell what kind of Pokemon this is. Is it nocturnal, or does it hunt  
  
during the day? Tell what it eats and if it is hunted..Delia, are you listening to me?  
  
Were you even listening in class when I explained this?"  
  
"Of course I was! I just.....forgot. Yes, I forgot." She knew there was no way she  
  
would be able to concentrate with him sitting right there...breathing the same air as  
  
her, his fingers touching the images on the textbook softly, his voice talking about.well  
  
who knew what? But the point is, she thought, is that he's right here and I don't care  
  
beans about this boring lesson.  
  
He then gave her a lecture about paying attention to him, and she agreed  
  
mechanically. By the time they left, two hours later, she'd finished about three problems  
  
out of twenty.  
  
"Delia, you'd better have this done for me tomorrow, or you'll fail the pop  
  
quiz......" He warned as they walked out the door.  
  
"It's not pop anymore! Now I know about it!" she chirped and pranced back to  
  
the living room. She couldn't wait until the next visit-two weeks from now, said her  
  
mother. In fact, she felt as if she would die waiting..  
  
Keep the reviews coming! Stay tuned for more eldershipping ahead!  
  
X~ Aurora chan 


	5. Chapter Five

Here's an extra long chapter for all of you! Thanks for all the reviews on three  
  
and four! Well, I'd better shut up now so u can enjoy the story ^_^  
  
  
  
Delia flung her backpack on her bed and settled down, her heart racing. She tried  
  
to force her rigid spine to relax, but she simply couldn't. Her mother was outside,  
  
gardening. Finally, she decided to write a little in her diary. Sometimes, that helped get  
  
her mind off everything that was going on..  
  
May 25  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Nearly eight months have passed since Professor Oak first came to my house.  
  
Since then, he's come nearly every weekend. We talk about everything now, and we're  
  
really close. Not just lessons, but I think he's discovered that I'm not as dumb as I look.  
  
I haven't told the other kids, they might think I'm cheating or something. My  
  
grades have gotten much better (I'm at a 80% now!) The only hint that we're friends now  
  
is an occasion secretive wave in the hallways. It makes me so sad to know that it will  
  
never be anything more.. but I think he looks at me like another daughter, since his own  
  
son is almost my age.  
  
I'm sorry, diary, if I mention his name every five seconds. I really can't help it,  
  
because I think..I'm in love.  
  
It's such a foolish, school girl notion. It's just a crush. That's what Ki said. Just a  
  
crush. But I feel more than that. I've had crushes before....they come and go like the  
  
wind.  
  
Like everyone else. Very gradually, everyone stopped paying attention to  
  
Professor Oak. Now Ki likes a guy named Rich. All my other friends got boyfriends that  
  
they're going with for prom night. All of them except for me. I don't want to stay home  
  
by myself. But the person I want to go with is chaperoning the prom.  
  
I could hate her, I suppose. Who? Mrs. Oak, of course. She not only married him,  
  
but she had two kids with him. But I just..can't. She's like the mother I never had. I can  
  
tell her things that I never tell my own mother. When we went to Professor Oak;s house,  
  
she never scolded her kids for spilling their milk or being loud. She let them go out with  
  
their friends. She loved them.  
  
Does my mother love me at all? Maybe she does, or why else would she be so  
  
terrified over every little thing that COULD happen to me? But she just.doesn't care. I  
  
honestly feel that Mrs. Oak likes me a whole lot more then my own mother. She is the  
  
kindest person I ever met.  
  
Love hurts so much, diary. I'm torn between loyalties to myself and my friends,  
  
and so I have to keep it inside. I have to, no matter what. I just don't want to hurt anyone.  
  
-Delia  
  
The phone suddenly shrilled next to her. "He-loooo!" she called out.  
  
There was silence on the other end. "Hello? Is anyone there?"  
  
"Hi!" blurted out a voice on the other end. A male voice.  
  
"Hi, um, who is this?" she asked.  
  
"This is Aaron. From your Pokemon biology class." She tried to recall an Aaron,  
  
but couldn't. She never noticed any of the boys in that class.  
  
"H-hi Aaron," she stuttered. "How's it going?"  
  
"Fine!" he said in a rush. "Listen, um, Delia, are you going with anyone to prom  
  
night?"  
  
"Nope," she said.  
  
"Well, if you don't mind, that is, um, would you like to go with me? I'm not  
  
going with anyone either."  
  
It took her a second for this to sink in. Here was a boy, asking her to prom. A boy  
  
her age. Maybe it would be better to go. Maybe she could even divert herself from  
  
Professor Oak.  
  
Poor Aaron found her silence excruciating. "Deila? Are you still there?"  
  
"Yes! Yes, I'll go with you Aaron. Thanks for asking me. See ya tomorrow."  
  
"See ya," he said, trying to sound nonchalant, but the relieved tone in his voice  
  
was apparent.  
  
She replaced the receiver and was suddenly caught up in a rush of youthful spirit.  
  
She didn't realize, but the last time she'd felt truly young was before she'd fallen in love.  
  
All her friends were dating, describing vividly their first kisses and beyond. And then  
  
there was Delia, who didn't have a boyfriend and surely had never been kissed.  
  
And no one knew. Not even Ki.  
  
She decided she needed a new dress. Even if it meant defying her mother once  
  
and for all.  
  
  
  
"Now, Delia, I'm going out to the market to go shopping. You watch the house  
  
while I'm gone, okay?"  
  
"Right!" she said while her mind planned out the battle tactics. After the tyrant  
  
left, she would take the bus down to Mauve Town's shopping center.  
  
Next, she would take the carefully earned $150 and treat herself to a dress. Then  
  
after riding the bus home, she'd smuggle the dress into the house and hide it in the closet.  
  
It was perfect.  
  
Delia smiled stupidly as her mother buzzed around the house grabbing keys and  
  
wallet, coupons and lists.  
  
Delia opened her eyes and tried to look as innocent as she possibly could.  
  
"What's wrong, delia? Do you have something in your eyes?" asked her mother.  
  
She laughed. "No, nothing mother. Nothing at all."  
  
Her mother eyed her suspiciously before rushing out of the house, promising to be  
  
back in a couple hours.  
  
She waited ten minutes or so in case her mother had forgotten something, then  
  
decided the coast was clear.  
  
She boarded the bus, and settled down on the seat. Everything was going  
  
according to plan, so far.  
  
When she reached the mall, she headed into a store where they had prom dresses  
  
and bought the prettiest one she could find.  
  
The dress was on sale, so she decided to treat herself to a hot, fresh soft pretzel  
  
with the leftover money.  
  
As she pushed through the crowds to get to the pretzel stand, a very familiar pair  
  
of eyes met her own from across the throng.  
  
No....it couldn't be...  
  
But it was. She averted her eyes and hoped that the woman wouldn't follow her.  
  
Quickly she hurried out towards the exit in hopes that she could lose her.  
  
A second later, a hand bore down on her shoulder. She squirmed and struggled,  
  
but another hand turned her around to face her opposer.  
  
"Delia! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Mo-mom! I just needed a dress, that was all. I was gonna go straight home, I  
  
swear!"  
  
Mrs. Ketchum's angry glare traveled to the bag she held in her hand.  
  
"And you, young lady, are going to return that dress right this second. You are not  
  
going to the senior prom."  
  
Delia had never felt as ensnared in her mother's grasp as she did in that instant.  
  
For a moment her eyes blazed with an unmistakable rebellion that her mother had never  
  
seen before, but then they dimmed.  
  
"Fine, mother," she said, and the two of them walked back to the store and  
  
returned it.  
  
As they piled into the car, Delia expected to feel discouraged, to feel all her hopes  
  
dying, something.  
  
Instead she felt a driving, burning rage that she'd never felt before. For eighteen  
  
years she'd lived under her mother's thumb. Never again, said a voice in her head.  
  
  
  
June 1st, Senior Prom night. Delia pretended to have a stomachache and hid  
  
herself in her room all day.  
  
She applied make-up, and did her hair in a fancy up do just like Ki had shown  
  
her during lunch.  
  
Next, she donned the long, sparkling lavender dress. Ki had taken pity on her after  
  
listening to the whole horrible tale, and let her use an old dress from last year. After a few  
  
slight alterations, it fit her slim figure perfectly.  
  
When she finally turned around in the mirror, she couldn't believe the girl staring  
  
back at her was her. She looked so beautiful, she confident. There was an air of  
  
determination surrounding her that she never knew she possessed.  
  
"Here I go," she whispered to herself, gathering up her wits and heading  
  
downstairs. Mrs. Ketchum was sitting on the sofa, calmly reading the paper. When she  
  
glanced up at Delia, she almost dropped the paper.  
  
"Delia? What are you doing wearing that dress?" she demanded, standing up.  
  
"I'm going to the prom," she responded calmly, trying not to let her mother  
  
dimish her courage.  
  
"You're still entertaining that foolish prom notion? Sit down, take that dress off,  
  
you're not going anywhere."  
  
"I am going." She said firmly. "Aaron's supposed to pick me up at 7." As she  
  
neared the ending of her statement, her voice sounded more and more childish.  
  
Look what she's done to me, Delia thought angrily. She's kept me from growing up.  
  
"Sit down, Delia! You are not going to this little masquerade!"  
  
"I AM going, Mother! Look at me! I'm almost eighteen! I'm an adult! I've grown  
  
up, but you haven't realized it! You still walk around with the deranged little idea that  
  
I'm three years old still and you can tell me exactly what to do!!!"  
  
"Stop manipulating me! From now on, things are going to be different! I'm going  
  
to do what I want, when I want! And NO ONE, not you, not anyone, is going to stop  
  
me!"  
  
"Delia! How dare you speak to me like this! Get up to your room! NOW!!"  
  
Ever since she had begun ranting at her mother, Delia had been slowly inching  
  
towards the door. Now she realized something instantly. Nothing would ever be different.  
  
In her mother's eyes, she would always be a little girl. If she wanted to live her life, the  
  
time was now.  
  
"Goodbye, Mother." Eyes blazing, she flung open the door and dashed into the  
  
stormy night, making sure to slam the door on the way out.  
  
  
  
How'd you like it? Please review quickly! ^_^ I'll have chapter six to u in a couple weeks! (we're going on vacation, no internet access *sniffs*) 


	6. Chapter Six

Hi again! Thanks for the reviews, all! I'll keep writing if you keep reviewing ^_^  
  
This is the end of part one of the story....  
  
The pelting rain had long since soaked her through. Delia pulled her arms tighter  
  
around her, trying to stop the shivering.  
  
Her mind spun madly. Where in the world would she go now that she'd escaped?  
  
She had no money, food, or nothing. Images of herself begging from people like her  
  
mother came into her mind, and quickly she shook it out.  
  
"I will think of something," she promised herself quietly.  
  
The park she'd discovered was several miles away from her house, and now she  
  
sat on the bench, trying to sleep.  
  
But the sleep would not come. Too many imagined pictures came to mind: Her  
  
mother searching her out, and never ever letting her escape again.Aaron waiting and  
  
waiting..and Professor Oak. She would never see him again.  
  
A few more tears leaked out and joined the rain trickling down her cheeks, and  
  
she buried her head on her hands.  
  
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Someone help me!" she shrieked,  
  
tearing herself away from its grip and fleeing into the forest.  
  
It's my father, I bet, she thought, terrified.  
  
"Delia!!" he yelled. Wow, he even remembers my name, she thought. And the last  
  
time I saw him was when I was three.  
  
"It's me! Professor Oak!"  
  
She stopped dead in her tracks and reversed her dash direction. "Professor!" she  
  
screamed and halted in front of him.  
  
"Delia? What in the world are you doing here?" She opened her mouth to explain,  
  
but suddenly she was so tired, too tired to explain what had happened, too tired to defend  
  
herself.  
  
Instead she began to cry again. Professor Oak put his hand on her shoulder and  
  
gently guided her to his car, where she sat in the passenger seat until the tears had  
  
stopped.  
  
"I don't know what you're doing here," he said briskly, "But I think I'd better  
  
take you home."  
  
Home was the last place she wanted to be. "No!" she screamed quickly, with  
  
more ferocity that she's intended.  
  
He glanced up quickly. "No?"  
  
"I ran away......." she blurted out, her hands tightening on the fringe of the dress. "I  
  
can't go back there, Professor. I don't know if you understand or not, but she was  
  
controlling me. Treating me like I was three years old. I just can't live with that  
  
anymore...and she won't let me live my own life."  
  
"But Delia, what will I say when they ask me where you are? I can't lie and say I  
  
haven't seen you!"  
  
"Sure you could!" she chirped in spite of her tears. He just shook his head.  
  
"Well, I think I'd better take you to my house, then. Then we can discuss what to  
  
do about you there."  
  
Delia felt a small nugget of hope at going to the professor's house. There, there  
  
were dry clothes, nice people, and she knew she was always welcome.  
  
The drive home was for the most part silent, save the platter of rain on the  
  
windshield. The Professor didn't press for anymore information, partly because he didn't  
  
want to invade on his young friend's privacy, partly because the road was so road was so  
  
slippery.  
  
"The roads are terrible tonight," muttered the professor. "there are gonna be so  
  
many kids driving home in this..."  
  
"I never learned to drive," spoke Delia suddenly. "My mother never saw the need,  
  
because I wouldn't ever be going anywhere anyways. So I'm land bound."  
  
"Somehow, seeing her in action, I'm not surprised," he said grimly. Professor Oak  
  
glanced over at her, and they shared a tentative, shaky smile. Delia felt herself shivering  
  
again-and not only from her soaked dress.  
  
Mrs. Oak had stayed up late waiting for her husband to return. When she finally  
  
heard the key jiggling in the lock, she ran to greet him, and was faced with another  
  
person in the foyer.  
  
"Delia! What are you doing here? Oh, look at you! You're soaked!"  
  
She ran off the fetch a towel and Delia gratefully wrapped it around herself.  
  
Professor Oak repeated Delia's story to his wife, and then the two adults glanced  
  
at her in sympathy.  
  
"I'm sorry, Delia," said Mrs. Oak. "I always felt sorry for you.after being  
  
friends with your mother I've learned what a strict person she was, but I never imagined  
  
this."  
  
The room suddenly was illuminated with lightening, and Delia shrieked.  
  
"I'm worried about all the kids that are driving tonight," said the professor. His  
  
wife nodded.  
  
"Hey, who's here?" asked another voice. A fifteen year old boy poked his head  
  
into the room.  
  
"Hi, David." Said Delia. He grinned and waved. "What are you doing here?" he  
  
asked her.  
  
"I ran away," she repeated.  
  
"Way to go!" he yelled.  
  
"Not so loud! June's asleep!" hissed Mrs. Oak. Professor Oak just rolled his eyes  
  
while Delia smiled a tiny, timid smile.  
  
"Good morning!" exclaimed Delia when Professor Oak stumbled downstairs on  
  
Monday morning.  
  
He rubbed his eyes. "Delia? What are you doing?"  
  
"Making you coffee, Professor. Drink up!" She smiled and set it in front of him,  
  
then joined him at the kitchen table.  
  
While he drank his coffee, she stared at him. After they had invited her to stay the  
  
entire weekend without a sign of her mother, last Friday night seemed like a past  
  
nightmare. Now she was happy just to be with Professor Oak.  
  
After they got to school and each went their separate ways, Delia nearly ran into  
  
Ki on her way to her locker.  
  
"Delia!" she shrieked, "I thought you ran away Friday night! You're back?"  
  
She shook her head, then dropped her voice to an reserved whisper.  
  
"Iwasstayingwithprofessoroak," she said in a rush.  
  
Ki's eyes grew wide. "Delia, I've been meaning to ask you something about him."  
  
"What?" Delia asked, her cheeks growing pink at the mention of his name.  
  
"Do you still like him?"  
  
She didn't need to answer; the shifting of her eyes and the intensifying blush gave  
  
her away.  
  
"I like his son. What a cutie."  
  
"Whatever happened to Rich?"  
  
"Bah to him," she said.  
  
They were sitting in English when it happened. "Will Delia Ketchum please  
  
report to Mr. Wang's office?"  
  
She felt a shock wave rush over her, but she managed to stand up and stumble out  
  
of the room with thirty pairs of eyes boring into her back.  
  
Her mother was probably there, she thought. She'd come to collect her and force  
  
her to come home.  
  
She almost turned around and fled, but the second she came into earshot of the  
  
office suddenly everyone grew silent.  
  
Some of the secretaries smiled at her when she entered the office, but their eyes  
  
held traces of sadness and sympathy.  
  
"Mr. Wang's in there, Delia," said one of them, gesturing towards the door. When  
  
Delia met her eyes to thank her, she glanced away.  
  
Suddenly her legs grew watery. A terrible fate was waiting for her in this office,  
  
she was sure of it.  
  
"Delia. Hello, take a seat," said the vice principal without smiling. She managed  
  
to find her way to something that remotely resembled a chair.  
  
A silence stretched over the room as Mr. Wang appeared to be gathering himself  
  
together. "Delia, something happened this Friday night when the roads were bad.  
  
However, we weren't able to get a hold of you until today."  
  
She tried to ask what had happened, but she found her vocal chords frozen.  
  
"Your mother was crazy with worry over you that night," he continued, "She was  
  
calling everywhere, the school, your friends' houses, in hopes that she would find you.  
  
Finally she took matters into her own hands and started driving around town. There was  
  
an accident."  
  
Her heart was beating so crazily in her throat that she barely heard his last  
  
statement.  
  
"Your mother died."  
  
A scream shrilled in her head, echoing and re-echoing until she thought she would  
  
be sick. She clutched her stomach, which had suddenly gone hollow.  
  
"What..?" she whispered. "She's....dead?"  
  
He nodded gravely. "I'm sorry.."  
  
And then she ran.  
  
  
  
Whispers rustled softly all around her and people bustled around. She was acutely  
  
aware of being physically there while her mind was dead somewhere else.  
  
The veil she had on mostly masked her face, and she kept her eyes downcast. Just  
  
a few hours ago the guilt had slammed her in the face, nearly giving her a bloody nose.  
  
Mother. I killed you, she thought, the only conscious thought she'd had since  
  
yesterday. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.  
  
Someone was telling her to throw a rose into a hole in the ground. She had a rose  
  
in her hand?  
  
Holding up her hand, she saw a single black rose squeezed between a clenched  
  
fist. The hand looked strangely unfamiliar.  
  
Mechanically, she told the hand to move up and throw the rose. It landed in its  
  
destination, and Delia let her hand drop. It, like her soul, felt numb.  
  
Then some men covered the fresh hole up with dirt and she turned away and began  
  
walking into the forest.  
  
She didn't know where she was heading, just wandered around with trees  
  
prickling her cheeks.  
  
"Delia, come here." Said Professor Oak from behind her. Slowly, ever so slowly,  
  
she turned around and saw him standing there, wearing a black suit. A black suit for her  
  
mother's funeral. Her mother's funeral.  
  
Suddenly all the emotion that she had been void of for the past two days rushed  
  
in.  
  
"NO!" she screamed in a voice that didn't sound like hers. "I killed her!  
  
Professor, I killed her! It's all my fault!" she collapsed to the ground and began to sob  
  
violently.  
  
Professor Oak acted immediately. He rushed to the spot where she had fallen and began  
  
to console her.  
  
"Delia, you didn't kill her. Don't ever let me hear you say that. You didn't kill  
  
her, you didn't." he said, rubbing his hand comfortingly up and down her back.  
  
The only response was sobs wrenching straight from her broken, tortured soul, so  
  
severe that he felt a pain in his own chest.  
  
"I killed her, Professor. I killed her..." Her tears soaked through the shirt he  
  
was wearing.  
  
  
  
Well, um, I have nothing to say bout this chap. Just please review, chapter seven will be up very soon! X~Aurora chan 


	7. Chapter Seven

Gomen, gomen, gomen for the long wait! Hell *coughs* err school has started up again, so not as much time to write. Also, this chapter took an extreme amount of thought. Please enjoy!!!  
  
  
  
"Wow.." said Ash, looking from his mother to the professor to his mother  
  
again. "That's...an amazing story. I never knew anything about my grandmother  
  
before. Or my grandfather." He avoided the fact that professor Oak was his father, being  
  
almost positive that the story wasn't quite over yet.  
  
Mrs. Ketchum shuddered. "I'd rather not have you know either of them, Ash. My  
  
father was an awful man.but he left when I was three. That was enough, though, for my  
  
mother to become overprotective. But I think after awhile it was clear something was  
  
wrong with her, because she had a distorted vision of me." At mentioning her late  
  
mother, Mrs. Ketchum felt another pang of guilt which had never totally left her.  
  
"So where did you go, Mrs. Ketchum, after that?" Spoke up Brock. She glanced up,  
  
surprised that her son's two companions were still in the room.  
  
"Yes, I was just getting to that part," she said. "After I graduated, I began to live with  
  
Professor Oak..."  
  
  
  
****Four walls, surrounding her. Ah, they were so wonderful. Plaster over concrete,  
  
such a simple straight up foundation. But they separated her from them.  
  
From far below, two voices raised in heated argument drifted upstairs. They were  
  
never a yelling family, they were never a throwing family. They were calm. They sat down  
  
and discussed their conflicts  
  
When June complained that David had kicked her off the tv, Shigemi made them set up an  
  
alternation time for the tv, so they could share it. No one was punished, no one went to  
  
their rooms.  
  
They both need to be punished, thought Delia. I should go downstairs, tell them to go the  
  
their rooms. The absurdity of this thought almost made her smile-but not quite.  
  
Their tense voices almost always hung in the air, even when there was silence. At any  
  
moment, though, they threatened to erupt..*****  
  
  
  
It was only two short weeks after her mother's funeral. They told Delia that the  
  
ceremony was small, that there were only a few people there.  
  
Looking into the eyes of Delia Ketchum, Shigemi saw only a lost, scared expression  
  
reflected there. She had no family, and no friends to stay with.  
  
"Darling." said Mrs. Oak, rapping softly on the door or the spare bedroom. The window  
  
was shut, and all the lights were off.  
  
To any casual passer-by, it would appear that Delia Ketchum was sound asleep, but by  
  
now, Shigemi Oak knew of her habits.  
  
"Darling, talk to me," she said, "Let me in, please." There was a slight rustling under the  
  
covers, and a small, white face turned towards her.  
  
"Hi.hi, Mrs. Oak," she managed to say. Even in the depths of despair, Delia still  
  
attempted a smile.  
  
Shigemi's heart nearly broke for her. After all she'd gone through, all the pain and  
  
suffering, she was still trying. She still had hope.  
  
At that moment, there wasn't a doubt in her mind. She strode into the room and sat on the  
  
bed.  
  
"Delia, Samuel and I have discussed this with the kids, and we all agree," she said.  
  
Delia sat up in bed. "What is it?"  
  
"We were wondering if you would like to stay with us. You can stay here as long as you  
  
like. It's just that, well, you're like another daughter to me, hon, and June and David are  
  
really fond of you."  
  
What about Professor Oak?  
  
Delia didn't respond, and Shigemi though she might refuse.  
  
But then she looked up with tears shining in her eyes. "I can't ask you to do that for me,  
  
Shigemi. I don't want to burden you."  
  
She wasn't getting it. "But we want you here. We like you a lot. Please, say yes."  
  
After another moment's pause, she said, "I would be honored to stay with you."  
  
And then, as Delia hugged Shigemi for the first time, startling her, she felt tears  
  
brimming in her eyes again. Shigemi's maternal touch made her feel like she was a child  
  
again.a young, three year old Delia Ketchum, resting in her mother's arms.  
  
She thought she might be there a week. A month, tops. But weeks became months,  
  
months became years, and soon she was there two whole years. No one mentioned her  
  
presence. She was just another member of the Oak family.  
  
There were some times she was able to forget. I am a member of this family. Soon I will  
  
meet a guy, fall in love, get married, and move away from them.  
  
But HE was always there.  
  
"Professor Oak! Hi! I made you lunch!" Sang Delia as she entered his lab, heart  
  
throbbing happily.  
  
He didn't respond, and she felt slightly hurt, though the event was so commonplace that  
  
she should have been used to it.  
  
The she noticed he was on the telephone. "So you ARE a professor, now, Spencer? In  
  
only three short years you've made your degree!"  
  
There was a pause, then Professor Oak said, "well, I'd be happy to have you help me with  
  
it. Yes, I've been very busy lately, and I could use the help."  
  
He nodded, then replaced the receiver. When he didn't turn around, Delia crept a little  
  
closer.  
  
"Professor?" she asked timidly. Ever since Professor Oak had gotten wrapped up in his  
  
current project, something he called a "Pokedex," he'd been acting like a totally different  
  
person. With this new short temper, she wasn't sure when her presence was welcome.  
  
Luckily, today the professor was in high spirits. He turned around and saw his former  
  
student standing in the doorway. He thought again, as he often did, what a pretty young  
  
girl she was. Someday, maybe she would find a nice husband.  
  
"Delia, we're going to have company soon," he said excitedly. "An old student of mine,  
  
Spencer Hale, is coming over to help me with my research."  
  
She smiled tightly. Whenever anyone mentioned the word "research," she felt a huge  
  
block of anxiety rest on her chest.  
  
The name of the man echoed in her head, it seemed strangely familiar. "Wait, wait. Did  
  
you say-Spencer Hale?"  
  
He nodded. "He was in my last period Pokemon biology class as a senior.."  
  
Her mind was teleporting back to the classroom, with the daydreaming girls and the  
  
fidgety boys. There was always that smart kid, the one who sat quietly in the corner,  
  
writing notes and raising his hand constantly.  
  
"I think I know that guy," she said.  
  
And she did. When the man showed up on their front doorstep two hours later, Delia  
  
answered the door.  
  
"Well, if it isn't Delia Ketchum, teacher's pet," he greeted her teasingly.  
  
"I am not the teacher's pet!" she responded hotly, "he just happens to be a very good  
  
friend of mine, like he is yours!"  
  
He just smiled, his eyes never leaving her face. "I was just teasing, Delia. Where's  
  
Professor Oak?"  
  
It was then she noticed the rest of the family had crowded into the foyer. "This way," said  
  
Shigemi coolly, leading him into the lab. When the door shut behind them, she turned to  
  
Delia.  
  
"Well, there's one more person to take him away from me," she added bitterly before  
  
stalking into the kitchen. Her eyes flashed at Delia for a fraction of a second, but then  
  
averted.  
  
She stood in the hallway, heart racing. There days, something just wasn't right in the Oak  
  
family. They no longer seemed like a family, in fact.  
  
The model family had disinigrated over time, leaving a bitter mother, a work-obsessed  
  
father, a son who was failing school, and a daughter who had nightmares almost every  
  
night.  
  
And a young woman who didn't belong there.  
  
Delia crept upstairs to her bedroom and began to count money from work, setting aside a  
  
pile for herself and one for the family.  
  
It was so strange. For the past two years, they were her family. The people who she  
  
belonged with, who she ate with and went to the zoo with.  
  
But now, they were "the family," and she was a mere spectator. She sat aside  
  
watching them fall apart while she sat unharmed on the sidelines, and now her guilt had  
  
no bounds....  
  
Professor Hale stayed for dinner that night. As they sat down at the dinner table, the  
  
cheery chattering of the young man and June's demands for more mashed potatoes didn't  
  
drown out the tension that hung around the table.  
  
"I'll help clean up," volunteered Delia, feeling as if she needed to do something. As she  
  
stood up, she was aware of Professor Hale staring at her. For an instant, their eyes met  
  
and he quickly looked away. But the second she turned her back, plates in hand, she felt  
  
his eyes boring into her back.  
  
Suddenly she felt clumsy, and nearly dropped one of the dishes. "Sorry!" she squeaked,  
  
and quickly finished her chore, then fled to her room. As she glanced once behind her,  
  
she saw him. And he was still looking.  
  
  
  
Sleep wouldn't come. Scenes from the past few weeks kept replaying themselves over in  
  
her head. Professor Hale, staring at her. Professor Oak snapping at his family, herself  
  
included, and Shigemi and him, fighting about everything and anything. And worst of all,  
  
Professor Oak ignoring her.  
  
Finally she decided that some tea or milk would help her sleep, and padded downstairs to  
  
get it.  
  
As she drank it, a faint mumbling sound came from the living room. Delia jumped.  
  
"June?" she whispered.  
  
Thinking it was maybe her "little sister," she crept into the room and saw a figure curled  
  
up on the couch.  
  
As it shifted, she saw Shigemi's face.  
  
"Why are you on the couch?"  
  
Without a word, she turned away. "Its nothing. You should go back to sleep."  
  
"Is something wrong? Tell me."  
  
Shigemi just shook her head.  
  
Okay, I won't set any more deadlines for eight..because who knows when it will be done..but hopefully in a few weeks! Hope u enjoyed it, and again, I like reviews.. X~Aurora chan 


	8. Chapter Eight

Hi! *waves frantically* I had a free night to do chapter eight!!! WEE!!! Oh yea, I have to do one of these. IDOTSOSM = I don't own this so don't sue me. And NOW it gets good...  
  
  
  
Our friendship is like the flower I water. I planted it, and it began to grow. But when you  
  
leave it, it begins to die at the stalk...  
  
Every day, the man showed up around 12:30 pm. And with each passing day,  
  
Shigemi grew increasingly hostile, and Spencer seemed friendlier then ever in Delia's  
  
favor.  
  
"Hello, Delia. Wow, you look nice today. Where's Professor Oak?"  
  
Even though he said this nearly every day, only with varied sentence structure,  
  
she figured he was patronizing her as she glanced down at her dirt- covered apron.  
  
Also, he'd been there so many times that he should know where to find Professor  
  
Oak- in his lab, where he always was.  
  
Better to humor the man, though. Better to not create any more tension that was  
  
already in this terrible situation.  
  
She decided to leave them alone today. Some days, when she was in a devious  
  
mood, she stayed in the room and stared at Professor Hale. The poor man could barely  
  
get a full sentence out as he tried to explain his theories to Professor Oak.  
  
It's fun to flirt with him, she decided, since a certain Professor in the house never  
  
noticed her.  
  
Her days were so cold, so lonely.  
  
Shigemi barely spoke to her anymore, her adopted mother, her close friend,  
  
pushing her away in anger.  
  
How had she figured it out?  
  
I just want to spend some time with him, she told herself. Even if my love isn't returned,  
  
I want to be with the one I love...  
  
Professor Oak was constantly obsessed with the Pokedex. Some days, when she sat in the  
  
lab, listening, she was able to decipher some of their complex scientist talk into basic  
  
English.  
  
It was some sort of little red device, apparently, made for Pokemon trainers. When they  
  
pointed it at the Pokemon, it would identify it and give a little bit of information on it.  
  
"So, how does this thing work?" she asked him one day while delivering lunch.  
  
Professor Oak sighed. "It doesn't work yet, Delia. We're looking for a little iridescent  
  
crystal. We've tried many different kinds, but none of them seem to reflect what we're  
  
looking for."  
  
"Maybe I could help?" Professor Hale looked excited at the prospect of them working  
  
together.  
  
"Well, we have to do some diving in a very dangerous area where the currents are strong,  
  
and I don't want anything to happen to you.."said Professor Oak.  
  
She felt herself flushing. "Yes, well, I'll be going now.."  
  
As she left the room, she nearly bumped into Shigemi while turning the corner.  
  
Their eyes merely locked for a fraction of a second. An unspoken message flew between  
  
them, and a million emotions collided, leaving Delia's heart a confused jumble.  
  
She felt something.different. She'd felt a grim resolve coming from Shigemi this time.  
  
As if she'd decided to do something about it...  
  
"Delia.." came the small voice behind her. "Delia, why is Mommy crying?" Delia  
  
froze, heart pounding.  
  
And then the small hands were grasping onto her skirt and she was looking into the next  
  
room.  
  
Shigemi Oak stood in the doorway, tears streaming down her face.  
  
"Listen, Shigemi, you didn't even hear what I had to say!" Shouted Professor Oak.  
  
"I don't need to hear it, you idiot!!! I hate you! You're impossible! Oh, no, your family's  
  
not important! Just your precious little Pokedex and Delia!"  
  
"I can't help it if DELIA comes to visit me! Unlike you! I can't stand living with you  
  
anymore, Shigemi! You're impossible!"  
  
Delia felt June's tears seep through her skirt. It was the worst thing in the world, hearing  
  
your parents yell like that. Memories of herself seeped back, only a tot of three, clasping  
  
her hands over her ears..  
  
And now..now June had to go through that hell all over again.  
  
The civilized people who calmly discussed their dilemmas seemed to have disappeared.  
  
Suddenly Shigemi turned around, looking totally distraught.  
  
"June..Delia.."  
  
Her expression clearly read, "you weren't supposed to hear that."  
  
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.  
  
For a moment Delia didn't respond. No, she couldn't. Seeing them throw ugly  
  
words..seeing her family being torn apart..twice...no, this was so much worse,  
  
then any other anger. The built-up fury of all her pain, from her own parents, to her  
  
mother, to THIS just burst out of her soul.  
  
"Just be quiet, both of you!" she yelled. "Stop yelling, stop fighting! Look at your  
  
daughter, what you've done to her!! I can't take any more of this!!"  
  
The girl's sobs continued to wrench out of her body, and Delia rubbed her back  
  
comfortingly. When she looked up, she glared at both of them.  
  
But all the anger had drained out of Shigemi's face. "I'm sorry, June...." Her face got  
  
tired and drawn, as she sat down on the couch.  
  
"I never wanted you to go through this, June. You or David."  
  
She didn't mention Delia's presence.  
  
"And me? I assume you wanted to keep this whole thing a secret from me, too! Since I  
  
know everyone here hates me, I think I'm gonna leave!"  
  
"That's not true," spoke up Professor Oak quietly. "June, David, and I don't hate you."  
  
Delia closed her eyes briefly. A dull, throbbing ache began to pound fiercely in her  
  
stomach. Every hateful word that flew across the room was another knife in her heart.  
  
Shigemi didn't deny it. She refused to meet Delia's eye, just turned her head away.  
  
"We've discussed this many times," she said tightly. "But now..now I think this is the  
  
deciding factor. Samuel and I are going to get a divorce. We tried to hide our problems  
  
from you kids for a long time, but they came to the point where we couldn't."  
  
Her voice diminished into a fit of quiet, muffled sobs.  
  
He made no move to confort his wife as he sat down with a grim expression on his face.  
  
June burst into tears upon hearing the news and sobbed as if her heart was breaking. But  
  
it is broken, thought Delia. I'm broken. Going through this..it breaks you.  
  
Their very world was shattering from above them.  
  
Suddenly David walked into the room and frowned in confusion at the scene before him.  
  
His dad, staring bleakly off into space, his mother and sister, crying their heads off, and  
  
Delia, with a funny red-faced expression on her face.  
  
"What's..going on here?" he asked fearfully, expecting the worst.  
  
Delia glanced up and saw him, the teenager whom she considered her younger brother.  
  
"David..David!" She leapt off the couch and rushed up to him.  
  
"They're getting divorced. Our parents, I mean, your parents, are getting a divorce."  
  
Saying the words didn't make it seem any more real.  
  
But it did bring tears to her eyes.  
  
David held out his arms and hugged her while she cried.  
  
Well, that's it for eight!! Please please review!!! Reviews=chapter nine  
  
X~Aurora chan 


	9. Chapter Nine

I finally got to chapter nine! This is probably me best chapter ever..and longest too...well, enjoy! And don't forget to review! ^_^  
  
IDOTSOSM = I don't own this so don't sue me.  
  
  
  
Why did I ever agree to this? Wondered Delia as she fastened her earrings. After she was  
  
done, she critically examined herself in the mirror. Done.  
  
The trouble had all started yesterday afternoon when she was loitering in the lab again.  
  
"I can't attend the banquet, Spencer," said Professor Oak, Both their eyes shifted over to  
  
Delia, who pretended to be merely gazing out the window.  
  
"But I have tickets for two! And they were expensive, too!" Added Professor Hale,  
  
speaking loudly and glancing pointedly at Delia.  
  
She pretended not to take the hint. "Well, I'll be going now, guys," she said, as she  
  
walked out of the lab.  
  
"Wait!" Hale practically screamed, lunging at his last possible chance to get Delia out on  
  
a date with him. "Will you go with me?"  
  
"For what?"  
  
Hale glanced at Professor Oak and just rolled his eyes while Samuel smiled at her.  
  
Of course, Hale didn't notice, so wrapped up his pursuit of Delia and his studies he was.  
  
"The banquet. I have tickets for two." He quickly explained the situation.  
  
"Well..." Said Delia reluctantly. "I suppose I could make it.." she sneaked a glance at  
  
Professor Oak, who was watching, waiting for an answer as well.  
  
"I'll go."  
  
And this was how she got herself in this undesirable situation, going on a date with a  
  
thrilled Professor Hale and leaving Samuel all alone.  
  
Finally, Delia patted her hair into place and left the room, feeling like a totally  
  
different person. She wasn't usually shy, but she slowed as she approached the dining  
  
room. The curtains swirled around her as she stepped cautiously into the dining room.  
  
"Delia," uttered Spencer softly, obviously awestruck by her appearance.  
  
Spencer Hale was wearing a suit, and Delia had to admit that her escort for the night was  
  
rather handsome-a lot of female eyes would turn in his direction.  
  
"Ready to go?" she asked politely. It seemed that their attire had affected their moods-  
  
both were acting stiff and formal in their stiff and formal clothes.  
  
"Yes," he responded, and took her arm.  
  
  
  
When Delia entered the room, wearing a blue dress, her hair arranged fancily,  
  
Professor Oak glanced up. Who was that beautiful woman who had just entered  
  
his kitchen on the arm of Professor Hale?  
  
It took him several seconds to realize that it was Delia. After that came to him, he  
  
couldn't stop marveling over her beauty. She truly had grown up.. she was a woman  
  
now, not the schoolgirl who'd walked into his class almost four years ago.  
  
I aught to compliment her, he thought. This whole arrangement of going with  
  
Professor Hale..she didn't seem extremely pleased with it. She was acting, he was  
  
sure of it. He had always been able to tell when she was truly happy. Maybe a  
  
compliment would brighten her face a bit.  
  
After several considerations, he finally said, "Delia, you look great."  
  
She stopped in mid-step and stood in the middle of the kitchen for a moment. "You-you  
  
really think so?" she asked, her head jerking up awkwardly and her eyes meeting his for a  
  
fleeting second.  
  
Professor Oak wondered if this comment had somehow offended her. "Yes, that dress  
  
looks nice on you."  
  
Delia looked up from the ground again and this time was blushing. "Well, thanks!" she  
  
said. This time her beautiful eyes reflected a genuine happiness.  
  
  
  
He tried to work. Every time he faced the piles of work sitting prudently on the desk his  
  
thoughts always seemed to go back..to her.  
  
Every time he saw her laughing on the arm of Spencer Hale, something inside him felt  
  
unnerved. He tried to just shrug it off. But every time he saw her bashful face, her girlish  
  
gait, he couldn't get her out of his head.  
  
"Dammit!" he yelled, slamming his fist on the table. "You're an old fool!" It was clear  
  
that she had Professor Hale. "And I'm too old anyways...." He added. Then he began  
  
the struggle once again of concentration on his work.  
  
Meanwhile, Delia and Spencer Hale were stepping into the ball room.  
  
"Wow! It's beautiful!" squealed Delia, "I wish I lived in this house!"  
  
She stopped, and shrugged. "Well, I guess Professor Oak's house is nice too, nicer than  
  
what I would have had...." Inwardly, she cursed herself for bringing up the Professor.  
  
"Now, Delia," said Professor Hale, as if she were a little girl, "there are going to  
  
be important people here, this is a rich scientist's banquet, so don't say anything about  
  
what we're doing in the lab, you hear me? It's a secret."  
  
So she nodded, deciding to keep her mouth shut.  
  
They began walking towards the table after an usher, and he slipped his arm into her own.  
  
Delia glanced up, surprised.  
  
The feeling of their arms touching..it wasn't comforting, like she'd always imagined,  
  
but a tight, uncontrollable feeling was growing swiftly in her stomach.  
  
She wasn't nervous, exactly. Not about his presence....just....the fact that this situation  
  
didn't seem...right.  
  
They sat down at the table and the professor immediately began chatting with the  
  
scientists around him while Delia sat stupidly at the side, smiling whenever someone  
  
looked her way.  
  
"Is that Mrs. Hale?" someone asked at one point.  
  
Spencer blushed, but he said, "no, she's just a friend."  
  
Delia could tell that no one at the table believed him, but after that took no more notice of  
  
her.  
  
"So, Professor Hale, tell us about your latest work," commented one of them.  
  
He began a long-winded explanation of Pokemon identification, and Delia felt her eyes  
  
drooping.  
  
How could these people possible be interested in this boring stuff? She wondered. Words  
  
formed at her mouth, words, just bursting out to be said..  
  
"I'm the assistant!" she said brightly, interrupting him in the middle of his rambling.  
  
"Oh, now, are you?" asked another scientist as if he were speaking to a child.  
  
"Yes," she said, unaware of the down talking that was going on. "I make meals for  
  
Professor Hale and Professor Oak, and I clean up the lab when they're done!" Having  
  
said that, she gave a big, gaudy peace sign.  
  
"Well, isn't that good for you," added another with false sincerity. Delia frowned.  
  
Something in the woman's voice sounded fake to her..  
  
The dinner put Delia in one of her rare bad moods. "what's wrong, Delia?" asked  
  
Spencer as the walked up to the door.  
  
"You....scientists!" she burst out, "Talking to me like I'm stupid or slow or something! I  
  
do have a brain!"  
  
For all his superior intelligence, he gave her the blankest look ever. "I didn't realize I was  
  
doing that..I didn't mean to."  
  
She just shrugged. "Yes, well, I guess I'll be going now."  
  
And then it happened.  
  
"I'm sorry..Delia..." She felt his hands on her face, and before she knew  
  
what was happening, he kissed her slowly on the lips.  
  
For a moment, she couldn't speak. She stood frozen and stunned, her heart  
  
pounding inside her. It was almost painful, this feeling. It was thudding and dizzying, out  
  
of control.  
  
She ripped out of his grasp. "I'm sorry," she whispered, turning away. But it  
  
wasn't before she saw his perplexed face, eyeing her, searching her.  
  
In the darkness, her face was half-illuminated, but Professor Hale could still see  
  
her. Blushing.  
  
Then Delia stumbled inside the house, tears gathering in her eyes.  
  
The next day, Professor Oak couldn't interpret the strange behavior between the  
  
two young people in the house. Delia kept a low profile, neither lingering nor pestering  
  
incessantly, and she stayed in her room most of the day.  
  
And Spencer, the poor man. When a Bulbasor they were testing gave a loud  
  
squawk, he nearly jumped three feet in the air.  
  
Finally, when Spencer left for the day, Delia crept downstairs tentatively and went  
  
into Professor Oak's lab.  
  
"Hi," she said softly, so as not to startle him.  
  
He didn't hear her. He was pacing around the lab, muttered sentences sounding under his  
  
breath.  
  
"Damn!" he screamed, pounding his fist against the table. "I'll never get this right!  
  
Never!"  
  
Blinking, Delia stepped back. Calm, cool, logical Professor Oak was frustrated?  
  
"Something wrong, Professor?" she asked, and as she put her hand on his arm a pleasant  
  
little tingle ran up it.  
  
Professor Oak turned around awkwardly. This was the first time a female presence had  
  
given him this comforting aura in so long..  
  
The expression on Delia's face was concerned, this much was clear. He swallowed,  
  
feeling nervous for some strange reason.  
  
"I'm fine, just a little- "he swallowed, "a little, frustrated with this thing."  
  
"What's wrong?" she didn't remove her hand from his arm, and he found it difficult to  
  
utter full sentences.  
  
"It's just, that-well, nothing really. I would explain it to you, but you'd be bored by it."  
  
"Would I?" she asked in a near whisper, her eyes traveling up to meet his. "Or is it that  
  
I'm not smart enough to understand?"  
  
"Why would I think that about you, Delia?"  
  
"Because," she said, the hurt of the previous night still raw in her voice, "Spencer thinks I  
  
am...all the scientists think I am.."  
  
"I don't."  
  
Their eyes were still locked together, and Delia was sure he could hear the pounding of  
  
her heart. What's wrong with you? Screamed a voice in her head. Stop acting like a  
  
teenager! You're supposed to be with someone your own age! But, dispite what her head  
  
told her, her heart felt contented.  
  
And it told her to do one thing..close her eyes..and lean in...  
  
"Professor Oak? Delia?" shouted a voice from the other side of the lab. Delia shot away  
  
from Professor Oak and whirled around to face the man, but she was a moment too late.  
  
"Spencer?"  
  
The fleeting expression on his face told her he'd witnessed them in full lip lock only a  
  
few seconds earlier.  
  
"Spencer?" she was talking to his back. "Spencer, wait...."  
  
Well, that's all for now, hopefully I will be able to finish ten soon.....  
  
X~ Aurora 


	10. Chapter Ten

I'm never going back there, he thought. Never, not in a million years, no matter  
  
how much they pay me.  
  
Damn Professor Oak. Damn them both.  
  
I loved her.  
  
Spencer paced around his room like a caged animal.  
  
What does she see in him? He wondered. He's nothing!  
  
I'm somebody! The utter impotence of the situation threatened to overpower him.  
  
Suddenly, he heard brisk knocking on the door. "Just a minute," he said, trying to  
  
sound cheerful and upbeat. Wiping the moisture from his eyes, he opened the door of the  
  
hotel and saw a group of official looking reporters.  
  
"Well, now, come in," he said, and the three of them entered his suite.  
  
They said they were there on some important business from the National  
  
Association of Pokemon Researchers, as the many lectures had given the duo of  
  
scientists quite a bit of fame.  
  
"Sir, tell us about your research with Professor Samuel Oak." One of them was  
  
saying, pen and paper in hand.  
  
"I'm no longer working with the professor."  
  
For a moment, there was silence in the room. Of course, reporters must always  
  
retain their composure, no matter what, but Spencer could still tell that his announcement  
  
shocked them. It certainly shocked him to hear it coming out of his own mouth.  
  
"And why not? Certainly he was letting you uphold your fair share of the work  
  
and pay?"  
  
Professor Hale laughed, a trace of bitterness in his voice. "It's not that. It's just  
  
that I don't agree working with people without morals."  
  
"Can you please explain a bit more?" Asked another one. He tried not to appear greedy,  
  
but these reporters were desperate for information, and his fascination gleamed in his  
  
eyes.  
  
Spencer found that he liked the audience. "Well....I'm not sure if I should be sharing this  
  
information.."  
  
Their eyes stared at him beseechingly, like hungry birds starving for food.  
  
"The young lady that he is living with. Delia Ketchum." He made sure to put extra  
  
emphasis on the word young. "He has not even married the girl, and she's living with  
  
him!"  
  
They all nodded eagerly, soaking up every detail, and Spencer decided to spill a little  
  
more water, stretch the truth a bit more.  
  
"I was engaged to her."  
  
Frantically writing taking down notes, the reporters tried to convey every emotion that  
  
played across his face.  
  
"I was at the dinner," one of them spoke up. "When you were there with Delia, she  
  
mentioned something about living in Professor Oak's home with him. How long do you  
  
suspect this has been going on?"  
  
"I think a long, long time now.."  
  
  
  
"They should be coming soon," said Professor Oak, his face tight with excitement,  
  
though he tried not to show it. In an hour or two, he perform a demonstration of the new  
  
Pokedex's features once they found the right stone to make it work.  
  
"You've been working hard enough," said Delia. "Take a break, conserve your energy for  
  
the lecture."  
  
"You sound like my mother," he said. Ever since yesterday, they'd avoided one another  
  
until contact was inevitable.  
  
Delia had sat up in her room, re-living the kiss again and again, feeling shivery every  
  
time she imagined it. How did that happen? She wondered. I was just there, and then  
  
suddenly, we were looking at one another, and then..well....  
  
Finally, Delia stepped into the kitchen.  
  
"Hi, Professor Oak," she said, forcing out a smile, trying to pretend that nothing had ever  
  
happened the day before.  
  
He smiled and responded, though it sounded rather forced.  
  
The silence seemed to stretch out in front of them. "I'm going out for a walk," said Delia  
  
to break the awkwardness. She needed to sort out her thoughts.  
  
As she opened the door, she heard him come up behind her. "Do you mind if I come  
  
with?"  
  
Suddenly, her heart was speeding up. No! Screamed her mind. Stay home! "I  
  
don't mind," she heard herself nearly whispering.  
  
Stepping outside into the brisk October air, Delia felt her face heat up and get blasted by  
  
a frigid breeze at the same time.  
  
There was no sound in the neighborhood, save the crunching of leaves on their shoes.  
  
Think of something to say! Delia scolded herself. He'll think you're boring if you don't  
  
think of something!  
  
When she glanced over at his face, she saw that it was flushed, and she thought that it had probably come from the cold air. (^_^)  
  
"I hope you do well," she said lamely. "I'll be there in the audience, listening. Just  
  
pretend you're telling it to just me."  
  
He gulped. That thought made him ever more nervous! "I will. I just hope this goes well.  
  
If it doesn't, well.." As he trailed off, his unspoken message seemed to communicate  
  
more than words.  
  
"Don't worry, you'll do fine," she assured him. They continued to walk in silence, and  
  
from time to time Delia felt her eyes shifting over to his face. He was staring at the  
  
sidewalk, deep in thought.  
  
Once, when he thought she wasn't looking, he sneaked a peak  
  
at his beautiful companion, and found her looking at him, too.  
  
They both blushed and quickly glanced away.  
  
"I wonder how June and David are doing," remarked Delia quickly to cover it up. "I  
  
haven't heard from them in ages."  
  
"Me, neither," agreed Professor Oak.  
  
"I really miss hearing June's voice when I first wake up in the morning. It's  
  
so.....lonely."  
  
"I know. It makes me so sad that the kids can't visit more often."  
  
Suddenly Delia shivered.  
  
"Are you cold?"  
  
"I'm fine," she lied, trying to control her voice so it wouldn't shake.  
  
He didn't respond, just shrugged his lab coat off and handed it to her without a word.  
  
"Thanks...I guess I am kinda cold," she admitted gratefully, wrapping it around herself,  
  
Inside, a part of her was hopping around ridiculously squealing and shrieking for joy, but  
  
outwardly she showed no emotion.  
  
An invisible warmth seemed to surround her and embrace her, and she closed her eyes.  
  
Delia felt her hand moving in the air..moving..until it met Professor Oak's hand.  
  
They collapsed hands, but ever so slowly, his fingers intertwined hers, while both of them  
  
pretended that this was perfectly ordinary.  
  
"Your hands are like ice," he said to her.  
  
She only tightened her grip on his hand and said nothing, but she could already feel his  
  
warmth spreading throughout her body.  
  
  
  
"It's supposed to be in today's Canto Times!" Squealed Delia, clattering down the stairs.  
  
She rushed outside and swiped up the newspaper from the front stoop.  
  
"Sa-myyy!!!" She yelled into the house, more hyper than usual.  
  
"The paper's here!" The two of them hustled into the kitchen and Delia ripped it open.  
  
On the front page, sure enough, there it was, a picture of Professor Samuel Oak proudly  
  
holding up his work of art, the Pokedex. Her eyes scanned down the article and then  
  
stopped dead on a picture. Cold shock washed over Delia as the picture as she stared at it.  
  
"What the.what is this?" Demanded Professor Oak, also seeing the picture.  
  
It was them, sure enough. She was wearing his lab coat, and they were holding hands,  
  
strolling down the boulevard. Beneath it, huge, excited letters screamed, "Delia Ketchum  
  
cheats on fiancé! Details below!"  
  
HEHE, I'm evil! ^^ S' okay, just wait till chapter 11!! Just keep up the reviews! X~Aurora chan 


	11. Chapter Eleven

HERE IT IS! The ever dramatic..chapter 11 of Delia's Reminiscence!!!!!!!  
  
  
  
Ash scratched his head in perplexity. "You had a fiancé, Mom?"  
  
"No," she said, "that was the whole point. I didn't have one and Professor Hale made it  
  
seem like I did."  
  
"Well then who did you cheat on?" Brock saw a slight similarity between the mother and  
  
son when it came to cluelessness.  
  
Misty swiftly pulled out her sledgehammer from behind her back and whacked Ash on  
  
the head as hard as she could. "No, you idiot! She was single and her and Professor Oak  
  
had one another!" Ash could almost hear the sigh of romance in her voice.  
  
  
  
Professor Oak felt strangely depressed. As the expression of shock passed over Delia's  
  
face, he simply felt numb.  
  
"But..I don't..have..."she whispered.  
  
How could it be that in only such a short amount of time he'd grown so fond of her?  
  
Until now, he never knew he would feel this strongly.  
  
"So you were engaged to him the entire time, then." He said, his voice sounding more flat  
  
then he'd intended.  
  
She had been staring at the article, petrified, but her head whipped around at his words.  
  
"No! I hate him! I would never marry such a terrible man!" Delia cried vehemently, and  
  
at that very moment, she did hate him, and her guilt disappeared. She was glad that  
  
Spencer was in emotional pain from losing her. And he's never gonna get me, so there, a  
  
silent voice in her head added  
  
"Then why..?"  
  
"Don't you see?" Delia interrupted him, "he just made that up! He made it up just so we  
  
could be miserable! Just to ruin your career!" A light of understanding flashed in his eyes, and in a second it turned to anger. "The  
  
little...how dare he?"  
  
She couldn't find any words to express her shock, her anger, so she kept silent and shook  
  
her head as she glanced over it once more.  
  
  
  
It was three weeks after the infamous newspaper article incident.  
  
"I've decided," Delia said with an air of competence around her. "I'm going to leave."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"There's no use changing my mind, Sam. It would be best for us if I left and you never  
  
saw from me again. So goodbye!" She tried to make her voice sound as sharp as possible,  
  
while inside her heart was breaking. It took lots of careful thought and agonizing nights  
  
awake. But every time she went out in public, whisperings floated up around her. People  
  
were talking, and it was hurting his image.  
  
Delia turned and walked to the door, bag in hand, when he yelled "wait!" and ran over to  
  
her.  
  
Catching her other hand in his, he turned her around. "Why would be for the best?" For a  
  
moment there were only the sounds of their ragged breathing.  
  
She tried to evade unnerving gaze. No one has ever looked at me this way, she thought.  
  
With such a combination of need, concern and..love.  
  
"You wouldn't have to suffer any more," she said. "You can carry out your career and,"  
  
she stopped talking as her voice grew hoarse and tears gathered in her eyes. Tears dripped  
  
onto the carpet as she stared at the ground in a strange sort of shame.  
  
"Don't leave," he said desperately. The thought of her leaving his life was  
  
unbearable.  
  
Those two simple words held so more emotion than she'd ever heard.  
  
"Why?" She asked, raising her eyes for the first time to meet his.  
  
"Because," he said before he knew the words were coming out, "I think I'm in love with  
  
you."  
  
"You-you do?" She just stared at him, her mouth gaping open like a fish.  
  
"Well-I, err.....yes. I know we were just friends, but I just.." He mumbled,  
  
embarrassed. And then she began to cry and flung herself at him.  
  
"I love you too. I've loved you since I was in high school," she cried, "Forever! For  
  
years!"  
  
He ran his hands through her hair and very slowly their eyes regarded one another. His  
  
eyes were dark brown, warm, wonderful eyes.  
  
"You're beautiful," Professor Oak said suddenly. His finger traced around her cheekbone,  
  
sending a shiver down Delia's spine, and wiped away her tears when he reached her  
  
damp cheeks.  
  
Inching up to his lips, she kissed him and felt him kissing her back. Delia closed her eyes.  
  
  
  
"YES!!!!" The next morning, Delia heard a triumphant cry from the lab.  
  
"Dear! What is it?" she yelled across the house, savoring the pet name which she'd just  
  
recently begun using.  
  
"Come and see!"  
  
She rushed into the lab and saw him surrounded by the Pokemon, like usual. "So? It's  
  
just a whole bunch of Pikachu, Rattata, and Ratticate," she said, uninterested in his new  
  
study of mice Pokemon.  
  
"No! look at this!" he pulled a red, shiny device out of his pocket which she instantly  
  
recognized as the Pokedex.  
  
He pointed it at the Pikachu, and suddenly a little voice emerged from the Pokedex.  
  
"Pikachu. The electric-type Pokemon. It produces electricity from its red cheeks. Many  
  
people like to keep them as pets," chirped the little machine.  
  
"Wow!" Squealed Delia, throwing her arms around him, "You finally got it to work!  
  
That's amazing!! Now you can sell it for big bucks and we can be rich!"  
  
The Pokedex clattered to the floor, unnoticed, as he pulled her closer to him.  
  
"Diglet! The ground-type Pokemon. It tends to gather in small groups and stand very  
  
close together!!" It screamed at them as they hugged.  
  
"What the." muttered Professor Oak. "I don't have any Diglet, though."  
  
He picked it up and inspected it closely. "Graveler, the rock-type Pokemon. Its rock- like  
  
face has a fierce expression on it and it performs various rock throw attacks."  
  
"Hey! I'm not a Graveller! It's me! Professor Oak!" He said, shaking it.  
  
"I think it doesn't work." Delia stated the obvious.  
  
"I think we need a shinier stone.." He sighed, sitting down.  
  
"Why can't you just use a mirror?" asked Delia.  
  
"Because it doesn't have certain iridescent qualities that this stone has. I've only seen it  
  
once, in a museum. I knew it would be perfect for the Pokedex, but they're really rare. I  
  
tried a substitution, but as you can see," he gestured to the Pokedex, which was now  
  
babbling about a Sycther, "It doesn't work."  
  
And that was when an idea was born in her head.  
  
  
  
"Ki!"  
  
The girl on the other line giggled. "I was wondering if I could find you at Professor  
  
Oak's! I heard, I mean, I read, I mean, well.." she trailed off, at a loss for words once  
  
in her life.  
  
Delia sighed. "It's okay, hon. I'm used to it." She felt strangely old, almost like an adult.  
  
We're only 22, she thought, yet Delia felt so much older than her.  
  
"I need help," whispered Delia, making sure to keep her voice low and confidential.  
  
"Remember how you said you were learning to snorkel?"  
  
"Yeah. You wanna learn?" Asked Ki excitedly.  
  
"Well.." Delia quickly explained the situation and Ki was immediately eager to help.  
  
"I bet the wedding bells will be ringing in no time once you do that!" She laughed.  
  
"KI!!"  
  
Delia wasn't sure if this was just a wild goose chase, but Ki claimed that the museum  
  
found the stone here. So there they were, all strapped up in wetsuits and snorkels,  
  
paddling around and straining their eyes against the murky ocean.  
  
"How will we ever find it like this?" Asked Delia. "You can't see three feet in front of  
  
your face!"  
  
"Well, they said that you can see it a mile away because it shines so brightly. Any little  
  
bit of light reflects."  
  
Delia shrugged, already starting to give up hope.  
  
The choppy waves tossed her around, and water kept seeping into her snorkel. "Damn!"  
  
She yelled, "This is ridiculous, Ki! Whose idea was this anyways?"  
  
"Uhhh.yours?" She answered, but Delia didn't hear her.  
  
"Ki.." she whispered, then disappeared under the surface a second later.  
  
"Delia?! What's the matter?" she yelled, alarmed.  
  
Under the surface of the water light filtered through in brilliant beams of light. The  
  
luminosity was nearly piercing, shining off of Delia face as she descended further into the  
  
deep.  
  
As she grew closer and closer, nearly 40 feet under the water, the lights began to dance.  
  
No, not just dance, but spin happily, like the carnival ride she went on with June last  
  
week, making no sense as it whirled around and around.  
  
Delia felt her lungs burning from the lack of air, struggling to keep her alive. There it is.  
  
Right in front of me. And now my hand is closing over it.  
  
I need to go. I need air. Now.  
  
She pulled her arms up and struggled to swim to the surface.  
  
Then the water was filled with blood, swirling around her, and her leg was burning, and  
  
her lungs were ablaze.  
  
I'm not going to make it.  
  
The surface was only a distant, gleaming brightness far above her. Her racing, oxygen-  
  
deprived heart began to slow down. Shutting down.  
  
The dancing light filled her vision, then, and dimmed to black.  
  
I tried, Sammy, I tried..  
  
Gimme reviews, gimme reviews!!!! I mean, please, can I have some reviews? Well, I'm not posting 12 until I get at least 120! So review everyone!! Ja!  
  
X~Aurora chan 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Suddenly she stopped moving. Ki had been watching her ascend upwards, her heart in her  
  
throat, praying she'd make it that far, praying she wouldn't get hurt, or swept away by the  
  
current or, or worst yet..drown.  
  
A cloud of blood rushed up to meet her, and then she was diving under the water at full  
  
speed in a panic.  
  
When she reached Delia's floating body, she seized her arm and rushed up towards the  
  
land. But suddenly, it seemed that the shoreline was far away, and Delia's weight bore  
  
down on her.  
  
Finally, she struggled to lug her ashore, and instantly pressed her ear to Delia's mouth.  
  
The steady sound of air rising and falling was gone. She wasn't breathing.  
  
"Oh my god," whispered Ki. "It can't be..it can't be..we weren't even down there  
  
that long.."  
  
She knelt down and felt tears brimming in her eyes as she tried to breathe life back into  
  
her friend.  
  
"Hello over there! What's the matter?" She lifted her head and saw a blurry figure  
  
hovering before her. He was wearing a white lab coat and a concerned expression.  
  
"My friend...she's not breathing...and she's losing a lot of blood on her leg."  
  
When he saw Delia, his eyes first widened in shock, and then turned cold, reflecting a  
  
raw, bitter expression.  
  
His eyes then turned to Ki, and traveled down again to meet the lifeless girl, where they  
  
lingered on her blue lips, her bleeding leg.  
  
"Well, are you going to help me, or are you just going to stand there and let her die?!"  
  
Demanded Ki angrily. "I don't know what to do! I can't carry her to the hospital!" She  
  
added, her voice rising in panic.  
  
He slowly sank to his knees and took her chin in his hand. For a moment he gazed at her  
  
skin, which seemed nearly translucent. Then he pressed his mouth to Delia's and tried  
  
again to rejuvenate her.  
  
Suddenly, after a few seconds of excruciating silence, Delia coughed and sputtered at  
  
little bit, and water ran down her chin.  
  
"Delia!" sobbed Ki, "You're okay!"  
  
"Not really," said the stranger, "We'd better get her to the hospital, quick. She's not in  
  
good shape." He gestured to the crimson-stained sand before reaching down and swiftly  
  
scooping her up in his arms.  
  
She stirred in his arms. I'm safe..I'm alive..I've woken up from the bad  
  
dream...  
  
A hazy cloud surrounded her, but Delia was aware of a soft white fabric against her  
  
cheek. It's Professor Oak, she thought. He's rescued me.  
  
Then she let her eyes give in to the soft beating of his heart as he raced to carry her away.  
  
When Delia's rescuer reached the hospital with Ki in pursuit, they burst through the  
  
emergency door.  
  
"I have a girl..about 22..nearly drowned, nasty cut on her leg," he gasped as he  
  
struggled to regain his strength.  
  
The bored nurse took one look at the unconscious Delia and immediately paged a man  
  
named Dr. Wrendal.  
  
Suddenly the tired old hospital came to life as a gurney came wheeling down the hall  
  
followed by a pack of doctors and nurses barking commands to one another. The man  
  
glanced at her pale, pale face as he gently set her down.  
  
At the last second, he reached into his pocket for something she had dropped.  
  
If he kept it, it would benefit him so much.  
  
But she needed it.  
  
They both did.  
  
Something made him press it into her hand. Then he turned around and disappeared  
  
without another word, his white coat stained with her blood.  
  
Professor Oak arrived at the hospital immediately after being phoned by a frantic Ki.  
  
"You can't go in there," they told him bluntly when he asked to see Ms. Delia Ketchum.  
  
"She's in intensive care. We'll tell you when her condition changes."  
  
Like hell they will, he thought irritably, thinking about the incompetent Nurse Joys at the  
  
nearby Pokemon center. The local people had been coming to him instead lately with  
  
their injured Pokemon.  
  
The dark hours passed slowly. Every inch seemed to crawl by as he waited, waited.  
  
People busted in and out of the small room, but he took little notice of them.  
  
The green plastic seats provided little to no comfort, so most of the time Professor Oak  
  
paced around the room, getting drinks of water or going to the bathroom.  
  
Sometime around three in the morning, a weary-looking doctor entered the room.  
  
"Samuel Oak. Professor Samuel Oak, please report to the main desk."  
  
With a huge jolt, he stumbled over.  
  
"Delia Ketchum is in stable condition. If you wish to see her, please follow me," said a  
  
nurse, and his feet were faltering after her.  
  
Why are you so nervous? He scolded himself. She's fine. You've dealt with so many  
  
injured Pokemon over the years that this is nothing. They said she's fine.  
  
"Are you a family member?" She asked him when they reached the door to the room.  
  
Not yet, he thought to himself, but said, "I'm just a friend."  
  
And the door opened wide and he saw a vapid figure lying in the bed. That couldn't be  
  
her.  
  
"Where's Delia?" He asked.  
  
"Right there," said the nurse, gesturing to the bed.  
  
Delia was hooked up to all kinds of stuff, he saw. An IV, an oxygen machine, a heart  
  
monitor.  
  
Shakily, he made his way to the bed where she was sleeping peacefully.  
  
Laying his hand over hers, he said, "Delia, I don't know what was going on in that mind  
  
of yours.."  
  
Suddenly her warm brown eyes opened slowly and she saw him gazing down at her.  
  
"Sa.Sammy?" She whispered, her mind groggily flashing back to the white lab coat, the  
  
strong arms. "You saved me."  
  
"You were dreaming," he told her. "It wasn't me."  
  
In response she tightened her hand over his. "It really hurts. They gave me something for  
  
my leg, but it's not working too well. I cut it really badly on coral, and I had to have  
  
stitches. I wish- " she was interrupted by a fit of hacking coughs.  
  
In the middle of her bout of coughing, something clattered to the floor. "What was that?"  
  
asked Delia when she recovered.  
  
The professor shrugged and bent over to inspect the floor. Something was under the bed.  
  
Something glowing. "Oh...my..god..." he said as he picked it up. "You found it. You found the  
  
stone."  
  
Her eyes were intent on him. "That's why I went down there..but I thought I would  
  
have dropped it."  
  
They just looked at one another for a few moments, the same confusion reflecting in both  
  
of their eyes, one pair weary from worry and the other weak from exhaustion.  
  
Abruptly Ki burst into the room. "Delia! I heard you were-" she stopped when she saw  
  
the scene before her. "I wasn't..interrupting anything, was I?" She asked with a  
  
giggle.  
  
"No, not at all," said Delia, while Professor Oak turned a little red.  
  
"Well, I found out some stuff about your rescuer! I tried to find him everywhere and he  
  
was nowhere in sight. Then, when I went out to lunch this afternoon, I met him there."  
  
"I sat down with him and I thanked him for rescuing my friend. Then he said it was okay,  
  
because you were a friend of his. And then-" She paused, breathless from her story, then  
  
continued, "And then I suddenly remembered him, from school. Do you know that this  
  
guy was in our Pokemon bio class senior year? Isn't that weird?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Delia had a funny little tingling sensation in her stomach.  
  
"Spencer," she said flatly while Professor Oak nodded his head slightly.  
  
"Wow, how did you know?" She inquired, awed.  
  
Delia and Professor Oak exchanged glances.  
  
"It's a long story.." said Delia finally.  
  
  
  
The young woman pushed her way through the crowd of chattering Pokemon trainers and  
  
scientists wanting to take a look at the exciting new invention.  
  
She felt a bit out of place, carrying a baby, no sign of Pokemon obsession anywhere on  
  
her. Nervously she twisted the wedding band on her finger.  
  
Oblivious to the stares of those around her, she quietly took a seat.  
  
As Professor Oak called Pokemon trainers up onto the stage to demonstrate it, the baby in  
  
her arms began to wail.  
  
She'd named him Ash.  
  
A burned Oak. Never would be know of his identity. His name was Ash. Ash Ketchum.  
  
Professor Oak kept talking, but eventually decided there was no point in trying to talk  
  
over the screaming baby.  
  
Embarrassed, Delia finally found a bottle and stuck it into him mouth. When she glanced  
  
up, she was met with a sea of curious eyes.  
  
For a moment in time, one pair of eyes locked with hers across the room. For what  
  
seemed like a lifetime, there was no one in the room but the two of them. Her little boy's  
  
eyes on the face of another.  
  
Not a sign of recognition passed between them. We have a secret...  
  
Then he turned away and continued talking.  
  
  
  
EPILOUGES ARE GOOD! This is the last chapter of the flashback, but there is gonna be an epilogue! It won't take that long to write, so keep watching for the next post! Thanks for all the reviews thus far and please review this chapter, too ^-^  
  
X~Aurora chan 


	13. Epilouge

"And that's what happened," Delia said as she finished telling them about the final  
  
Pokedex presentation.  
  
For a moment she was staring at the awestruck faces of three teenagers. Then, a cascade  
  
of questions suddenly overcame her.  
  
"When did you get married?"  
  
"How'd you end up here?"  
  
"Who was Professor Hale's wife?"  
  
"Who thought of my name?" (from Ash, of course)  
  
"How did IT...well...happen?" (giggles in the background)  
  
"So were you rich, Professor?"  
  
"What happened to Ki?"  
  
"Why did you keep it a secret?"  
  
"Why didn't you both live in the same house?"  
  
"Why is my name still Ketchum?" (Ash again.)  
  
"Hold it, kids..I'll answer them, only one at a time, though.." Delia suddenly  
  
remembered why she didn't become a teacher, and she shot her husband a helpless  
  
glance.  
  
"I SAID QUIET YOU BRATS!!!!!!" she bellowed.  
  
"Okay!" (a/n can you say kids' day??)  
  
They glanced at one another. "Which one should we start with?"  
  
"I believe," said Professor Oak, "That Ash wanted to know why he was still a Ketchum  
  
and not an Oak."  
  
Turning to her son, Delia responded, "After we got married, you know, the whole Pokemon world was gossiping like mad about the man and his wife who was younger than him, and how she was cheating on her fiancé.  
  
"So when we found out that I was going to have you, I didn't want you to live in shame. I  
  
just wanted you to be normal boy. Sammy's reputation was already bad enough in that  
  
way and a son would make it twice as bad, when he was already getting grandchildren.  
  
So after you were born, we moved away to Pallet town."  
  
"Why would anyone wanna live here?" Asked Brock suddenly. "No offense, but its not  
  
exactly the most exciting place to be."  
  
"Well, that's exactly why we moved here," Professor Oak interjected. "I wanted a quiet  
  
town where I could carry out my research and be with Delia-er, Mrs. Ketchum."  
  
"And," she continued, "I kept my name the same. So now I was a Mrs., but I kept my  
  
name Ketchum. And that's why yours was too."  
  
"So, did anyone ever discover you there?" asked Misty, leaning foreword with  
  
anticipation.  
  
"Yes, eventually people followed the famous Professor Oak to his home. He decided that  
  
I living there just wasn't worth it, so he built a cottage next door for me and our  
  
child..Ash."  
  
"My father's rich, ya know," threw in Ash, feeling the strange sound of the word "my  
  
father" on his lips. Never before had his mouth formed these two words in succession.  
  
"Shut up, Ash," said Misty. "Not all of us are you."  
  
"What about Ki? Did I ever meet her?" Continued Ash, ignoring Misty.  
  
"Well..you did meet her once, a few years ago. She brought her little girl, Molly, and  
  
her husband."  
  
It took a few seconds for this to register, but when it did, his mouth dropped open.  
  
"Spencer Hale's wife was Ki?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"This is weird."  
  
"Tell me about it," added Brock, thinking about the girl he'd been hitting on.  
  
Ash excused himself that evening and went out walking alone in the fields, his mind  
  
spinning in all directions. To his whole identity swiped out from under him, and to  
  
suddenly be someone he never thought he was..it was all so confusing.  
  
As he walked, he let his eyes wander up towards the sky. The stars were glittering  
  
serenely in the sky, but inside chaos reigned.  
  
A voice cut through the darkness.  
  
"Well if it isn't Ash *Ketchum*," smirked a voice contemptuously behind him.  
  
"Gary!" He exclaimed, whirling around.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Gary demanded, "This is MY grandfather's house, not yours.  
  
So get out!"  
  
Normally Ash would have retorted with a "make me!" or a "Suuuure I will," but today he  
  
just smiled.  
  
This infuriated the already-irritated Pokemon trainer, who expected to get a rise out of  
  
Ash.  
  
"I bet you wouldn't beat me in a battle if we had one right now!" shrieked Gary  
  
obnoxiously, already playing his last card. If one thing could get Ash Ketchum riled, it  
  
was battling.  
  
"I bet I would," Ash shot back, reaching for a Pokeball at his belt.  
  
Gary was in an especially abusive mood tonight, and next he threw the ultimate insult.  
  
"You'll never beat me, Ketchum. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be an Oak,  
  
and we Oaks have superior blood. And at least *I* had a father around *my* house to  
  
teach me Pokemon training, unlike some people I know." He glanced sideways at Ash  
  
with a cocky grin splitting his face.  
  
Ash's eyes widened, and he fought the urge to rush forward, to throttle him, to wipe that  
  
smirk off his face forever. He clenched his fist in front of him.  
  
"If you had heard what I just did," Ash whispered almost inaudibly, "You wouldn't be  
  
laughing, Gary Oak."  
  
His resigned, quiet voice silenced Gary.  
  
"What is it?" He asked, still trying to sound tough, but his voice had a slight tremor in it.  
  
For a moment Ash said nothing.  
  
"I did have a father, and I do know him, and he DID teach me about Pokemon training.  
  
So there."  
  
Without saying another word regarding this subject, he pulled out his Pokeball. "Now are  
  
we going to battle, or are we going to talk?"  
  
  
  
"The stars are so beautiful tonight," remarked Delia, gazing up at the sky, interlocking  
  
her hands with her husband's.  
  
He felt that she needed him somehow. Her hands were just as small and delicate as when  
  
she was young..a mere girl in the world.  
  
Delia thought to herself how she'd always found that protection in him. His hands,  
  
though aged 16 years, still felt the same as always-warm, work-worn, and securing.  
  
But something was missing, and he felt it too.  
  
"Delia." He spoke softly, though there was not another soul in sight. They were sitting on  
  
the front porch of his house, watching their son trailing around in the field.  
  
"Yes?" she asked, turning to face him. She never grew tired of gazing into his eyes and  
  
seeing the undying love shining back at her.  
  
"I have something for you," he said and dug around in his pocket, and finally pulled out a  
  
little velvet box.  
  
She gasped. "Is this..is this what I think it is? You saved it all these years?"  
  
"I thought one day, you might want it back."  
  
With trembling fingers that made her feel like a hormonal schoolgirl again, she opened  
  
the box and admired at the ring inside. Its shining light, though dulled by years of  
  
darkness, still glowed back at her.  
  
"I remember how surprised I was when I found out that you'd made the wedding ring  
  
with a part of the stone..it was so hard for me to give it up. It was like I was giving up  
  
on *us*."  
  
"Don't be silly." He stroked her head like a kitten and slipped it on her ring finger.  
  
"Now we don't have to keep it a secret anymore, Delia. We can tell everyone in the  
  
world that our son is Ash Ketchum, the new trainer from the town of Pallet Town who is  
  
taking the world by storm."  
  
She leaned her head back into his arms and they watched as Gary sauntered up to Ash  
  
and challenged him to a battle. They couldn't hear their words, but it was all right. Their  
  
actions were enough.  
  
"I'm so proud of him." She spoke suddenly, her voice cutting through the silence. "I can  
  
tell that he's your son."  
  
She felt him inhale, then exhale. "I'm proud of him, too, Delia. My son. Ash Ketchum Oak."  
  
*sniff sob sob* I'm so sad!!!!!!!!! The story's over!!! Well, it was fun to write, and I'm glad you guys liked it! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!!! Especially peeps who reviewed every chapter! A thousand thanks!!! Oh, yes, btw, can someone help me? I was wondering if anyone knew how to format html into a document to make text bold, italicized, etc when it appears on fanfiction.net. Or do you not use html? ARIGATOU!!!!  
  
Lotsa love, x~Aurora 


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